Toys R Us Bathroom Stall Falls On Child Safety Advocate
In 2006, Jennifer—the co-founder of popular parenting/consumer advocacy site Z Recommends—took her two-and-a-half-year-old to the bathroom at the local Toys R Us store. What she didn't know was that this particular store featured the awesome striking power of the Action Toilet Stall with Collapsible Mom Trap! As she closed the door, the entire partition fell over on top of her and her daughter. Jennifer managed to protect her daughter from harm, but in the two years since the event, she's developed chronic pain from the accident—and the response from Toys R Us has been "don't call us, we'll call you."
You may think a veteran consumer advocate would be able to resolve an incident like this with the company fairly quickly, but Jennifer's experiences over the past two years show just how difficult corporations can be when you try to get them to own up to their responsibility. Just look at how hard they tried to avoid talking to her a few days after the accident:
I left a message with the company's "Risk Management" office, which didn't call me back. The next day, I called again and got someone. They assigned me a "file number" and a "case worker," but told me that the case worker they were assigning me was out on medical leave for an indefinite period. This concerned me, and I protested, but the representative assured that if I needed anything, "anyone who answers the phone will be able to help."
Later, I received a letter from Toys 'R' Us which stated that due to their "inability" to reach me via telephone they were contacting me via letter. My home phone number is a VoIP line, so I logged into my account and checked the incoming calls to my home phone. Not one was identified as coming from Toys 'R' Us or the corporate office's area code.
Now Jennifer is suing Toys R Us (the trial is set for June), and today she's revealed the details of the accident, as well as the consequences of it on her health.
Being a consumer advocate may not give you an edge in being taken seriously by a corporation, but it does give you the drive you need to publicize a company's negligence. We can't wait to see how this develops in the coming months.
If and when we get to trial, I will be not only the plaintiff but a blogger on the scene. Now that we have a court date set, what's truly ironic is that we have a well-established model for this new project. This is what we do. We gather information, ask probing questions, parse out the answers, publicize our findings, and make an argument for how things should be. We've done it with Avent, Playtex, Sassy, Tupperware, Carter's, and continue to apply pressure to companies to make them change for the better and respond to what they've done. We go to trade shows in part to introduce ourselves to new vendors and discover all of the great new children's products that come online every year. But we also go to put faces to names for people we've dealt with over the previous year, and you know what? When we show up at the booth of someone we've worked with on a contentious consumer issue, they either groan or cheer. And we like it that way.
The difference, of course, is that it's personal now - but so is the BPA Dr. Brown's introduced to Z through her bottles before we knew about endocrine disruptors, or the skin lesions other people's children suffered from onesies with the same likely chemical formulation our daughter wore, but did not react to, when she was an infant. Compassion means seeing harm to everyone, yourself included, in the harm that is done to others, and we've learned that lesson well, both through parenting and through blogging. In fact, I'd say that this merging of personal and social interests is at the heart of advocacy blogging, and we're ready to show Toys 'R' Us how it's done. Low-level chemical toxicity is an evolving field of knowledge, but basic maintenance is a question of simple procedures and the reinvestment of a modest share of corporate profits to ensure customer safety. It isn't the sexiest way to spend your company's money; doing it right means your efforts barely get noticed. But doing it wrong can have deadly consequences.
"How Toys ‘R' Us can change your life" [Z Recommends] (Thanks to Jim!)
(Photo: Carey Tilden; photo of collapsed stall from Z Recommends)
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Comments:
Shitty, hope they pay out the ass!
NO..too much??
Good luck on the lawsuit. Honestly, it shouldn't have even gone this far. Shame on Toys 'R' Us.
I'm sorry, but that picture is as hilarious as this story is horrifying.
Yeah that picture is awesome.
You know, Toys R Us has just never been the same since I grew out of their market. It'll be interesting to follow this story.
What I enjoy the best is that she basically caught them in the act of lying, that because she uses VoIP and not traditional phone lines, she is able to see right away that they lied about calling her.
Good luck getting your expenses covered. I would look into the fact that you may have a bulging or ruptured disc, it sounds like a strong possibility and it doesn't sound like you've had tests for that yet.
The most disgusting bathroom I've ever seen in the US was at a Toy R Us store several years ago. It put the toliets of Istanbul and Mumbai to shame. At least it didn't collapse around me...(shudder).
the response from Toys R Us has been "don't call us, we'll call you."
I believe the correct response here is "Don't bother calling me; call my lawyer, instead." Add it sounds like that's exactly what she did. Kudos!
I hope she can get some chronic medicine for that chronic pain.
Was there some sort of negligence on the part of TRU? Sounds like a freak accident. These lasting complications stories are always a little fishy to me. People tend to see $$$$ when anything happens in a store.
Oh come on, nevets68. I was wondering how long it'd take for someone to blame the OP, and look! There ya are!
If she's in PHYSICAL PAIN it could very well lead to a much lower quality of life, especially if she has kids, and it doesn't help at all that this company doesn't seem to care. I can understand becoming depressed because of this.
As soon as the words BPA came out of her mouth, I stopped caring.
Lemme break it down for you anti-everything, organic this, natural that.. We are smart monkeys without tails. We're supposed to eat nasty stuff that's crawling with bugs. Anti-bacterial everything is the *PROBLEM*, not the fact that you precious little snowflake got exposed to a trace about of some plastic.
If you were injured, I'm sorry. But you're not apologizing for all your asinine BS behaviors, so I'm not THAT sorry.
Bad response by Toys R Us, but as a business owner "chronic pain" is basically code for "give me money."
Chronic pain is what you have when an accident does not produce any physical injury that can be documented and yet you still feel like you are entitled to get as much cash as you can out of the business.
Couple this with outraged blogger syndrome, and you have the potential for EPIC lawsuit fail.
If she was seriously hurt, I'm sorry. But I can't help but feel that even if Toys R Us did everything right, we'd still be hearing about the bathroom of death and the unfeeling corporate giant that screwed the poor little mom blogger.
Own a commercial property for six months, and you'll know where I'm coming from. Drunks who walk through glass doors, a broken fingernail on a brick wall, child running across wet floor that is clearly marked. No one thinks it's their fault. They assume you can afford it and find a lawyer who hangs out next to the day laborers outside of Home Depot to sue you.
Anyone else seeing weird behavior from the "reply" links?
I keep clicking to reply to people, and I am just sent to the top of the page. Weirdness.
She is a professional plantiff. Toys-R-Us are learning now what it is like dealing with a sue happy lady with questionable issues.
The OP says she has developed Chronic Pain from the incident? Really? Isn't that for the trial? Everyone other minor trip/fall becomes life ending when it makes it to court.
While Toys-R-Us sucks, I don't like supporting plaintiffs in these kinds of big money suits. How much is she asking? Actual treatment and reasonable pain and suffering? Or really cranking up the numbers?
Too much drama.
I'm not saying Toys'R'Us wasn't wrong,and I'm not tying to blame the OP, but if her life is so hideous now, why did it take 3 years to file suit?
Yeah, a Wii fit for someone who can't move properly.
Chris, as hilarious as that picture of Geoffrey in a stall is, I think you should change it to the OPs pic in her blog of the actual fallen stall door. (if you can) I really couldn't imagine the magnitude of it until I saw that picture. I don't want to know how much that would hurt, the fear I would have with a young toddler with me, and the anger I would have at no one caring, when this is a very preventable accident.
@nevets68: I think it can be tough to understand how life-altering the experience of chronic pain is. It's a a debilitating impairment that cripples you mentally as well as physically (the brain actually shrinks, in fact) and sets sudden bizarre limits on your life. And unfortunately the longer it goes on, the less likely it is that it's going to recede; your brain begins to treat pain as the default, and your body sacrifices other parts of you to try to protect the injured bits, so you end up damaged from attempts at accommodation as well as from the initial problem.
So it's a dramatic situation, and I'm therefore inclined to cut her some slack for talking about it dramatically.
Rhayader: Yes, many people are having problems with the reply link.
@the-wanderer: BPA is not about crawling with bugs. BPA is about endocrine disruption that can lead to fertility issues and cancers of the reproductive organs.
Before you bitch out "anti-everything" people, it would be helpful if you understood what they were complaining about. And then if YOU choose to expose YOUR infant to known, unnecessary carcinogens, that's fine, but I choose not to.
So what was the bet for "how long will it take for someone to blame the OP"?
C'mon..tell me... :D
It sounds as though she was trying to work it out with Toys R Us, perhaps they were giving her the run around, and she does mention it was in mediation.
Playing devil's advocate here...
Bathroom stalls are made out of relatively light plastic or particle board. How much could that possibly hurt a person? It isn't as if the Toys'R'Us marquee sign fell on her or an aisle shelving unit full of toys collapsed on her. I'm acknowledging that she was quite possibly injured in the 'Action Toilet Stall' assault, just seems unlikely that it was a life altering, depression-inducing sort of injury. But who am I to judge, since I'm not there.
@IT-Chick:
Your right, I was selfish and my response was uncaring.
Substitute the Wii Fit for some Roller Blades or a nice Huffy.
I want to know when pain stopped being important.
@Terraxsu:
I don't know, heavy enough to crush a phone and pin her on a wall so two people have to lift it off her?
I'm no stall expert though, I have never thought about it's weight. Just sounds painful.
Seriously? This was a freak accident. Suck it up! What a nation of whiners and drama queens we've become. We refuse to accept that sometimes bad things happen to us and its not anyone's fault! Besides-- c'mon, how heavy are those metal bathroom stall partitions? I don't get how they inflicted debilitating injury upon anyone, even a child! When I was 5 a barrell of concrete mix rolled over my leg. I barely had a scratch. Not saying injuries never happen but get a grip! I find this whole account hard to believe.
nevets68: Also to add to what jurijuri and floraposte said...this woman had a really young child, and probably anticipated all the active lifestyle changes that she was going to have to adopt to keep up with her child. And suddenly, she finds that she is physically unable to do a lot of it...it's debilitating, and scary, and it's understandable how upset she is.
I bet her husband can/will also sue for loss of consortium. This is a perfect example of it.
Sarah Vaz: I agree wholeheartedly. Bad things don't just happen to people anymore, opportunities to profit handsomely happen to people. Even if a true ACCIDENT occurs on private property the plaintiff's bar lines up to file suit against the negligent and irresponsible property owner. Suddenly any and all medical problems the person is suffering from were caused by the accident, they are now in complete debilitating pain all of the time, and if a Doctor says they aren't, they find a Doctor who will agree with them.
You're an ass, nevets68.
@Ben Miner: The problem with a Loss of Consortium claim is it opens up the husband to lots of very personal, intimate and invasive questions. Would you want to sit on the stand while the defense lawyer asks you how often you and your wife have sex, in what positions, how gratifying it is for you and if you've been completely faithful to her? That's exactly what happens and probably acts as a deterrent to such suits.
Her story, on her site omits going to the store manager and filling out an accident report. That might have expedited matters some, either way Toys should have been more responsive.
@Eyebrows McGee: Oh, look, a wikipedia link: [en.wikipedia.org] And a dictionary.com link: [dictionary.reference.com] BPA has NOT been tested for a cancer link, but you're sooooo sure that the big plastic boogieman is the problem that you're willing to protest stupid crap.
Most of us don't have real problems anymore. 100 years ago, you had to go shoot your dinner and pick the lead shotgun pellets out of it. Now, we have to gall to complain about trace amounts of a plastic. That's pretty namby pamby.
The way I read this article she developed the pain years after the accident. She has no case if the pain started a year after the accident. I do feel sorry for her because pain is one of the worst things to have to live with. Toys R Us is doing what they need to do to protect themselves from a lawsuit and with this kind of case they need to be careful. This is not a case of bad service or defective product it is a lawsuit that has millions of dollars on the line.
@Nevets68 I've heard of blaming the OP but you take it to a new and tragic level. It is obvious the most stressful thing that has never happened to you was someone spilled your mountain dew. You crossed the line between blaming the OP and are now firmly into troll territory. Other people have raised issue with the OP's case such as questioning the makeup of the bathroom or the length of time to sue without attacking the victim.
Crystal -
I never raised the point about the OP waiting to sue.
Nor did I mention anything about the "makeup of the bathroom".
BTW, I'm not a troll.. I prefer to be called a "lovely lil bugbear".
Apparently reading isn't your strong point either. I mentioned how other people had issue with the case and gave detail of their issue. This, are you following me now, gives you an idea on how to evaluate the OP's case without resorting to blaming the victim.
@Bodgy: What she failed to mention is that the stall fell on her after she unscrewed the thing.
Also, a child safety advocate walking into a large corporate chain of toys stores...isn't that like deliberately strolling through some gang turf while sporting the colours of the opposing gang?
@Bodgy: She's seeing dollar signs and wild publicity for her blog. She's very excited to blog the trial. Hate to bash the OP, but I'm very suspicious. Soft tissue injuries and freak accidents... I'm glad the burden of proof is on her at the trial.
"Compassion means seeing harm to everyone, yourself included, in the harm that is done to others" What harm will come to a company that failed to shake the shit out of the stall walls each morning before opening?
If she has a case, I hope she gets her medical bills and court costs paid. Too many have paved her way with scams for me to jump on her melodramatic bandwagon.
@the-wanderer: From your wikipedia link:
Dose (µg/kg/day) - effect - study date
2.5 "Breast cells predisposed to cancer" 2007
10 "Prostate cells more sensitive to hormones and cancer" 2006
Reading comprehension FTW!
My review of her blog and this article does not demonstrate any kind of authoritative diagnosis from a physician, neurologist, rheumatologist, orthopedist, or otherwise. The distinct lack of medical opinions cited doesn't do much for demonstrating a highly compensable claim.
Were any depositions taken? Were any actual diagnoses made? The term "somatic conversion" comes to mind. Sorry if that seems harsh.
Subjective complaints will only get you so far with a judge and jury. Toys 'R Us seems clearly negligent, but you need more than just a "oops, we screwed up" finding and subjective complaints of pain usually aren't enough.
All in all, I'd say any hope for a windfall verdict is slim. Chronic pain-causing injuries with mainly chiropractic and pain management treatment do not generally yield large recoveries. Many judges and juries, especially in today's climate, engender a "suck it up" attitude for injuries without ample medical backing. While I'm not of the opinion that you need a doctor's explanation/permission to feel pain, a trier of fact such as a judge or jury usually like seeing one. Show them the doctor's note and they'll show you the money.
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"If and when we get to trial, I will be not only the plaintiff but a blogger on the scene."
I'm sure TRU will be thrilled knowing that the plantiff is also a consumer rights blogger. Perhaps they'll have to alter their plans a little?